Shifting Tides
by Star Vortex
Summary: When six injured by the War are brought in by E S.W.A.T and repaired with cyborg parts, Tereus finds himself in the depths of a feeling he's never experienced. But there's something strange about 5 of the 6 newcomers. M for language and situations.
1. Chaos

_The world Faline awoke to was chaos, nothing like she had imagined. The first thing she noticed was the absence of the comforting weight of the Stone pendant around her neck. The second thing she noticed were the cold red-brown fingers of a battle cyborg that opened her eyes, pulling her roughly to her feet. Still disoriented, she attacked. She raked her hand down the cyborg's chest, and was confused and scared when nothing happened. Her attacker was supposed to die! She ducked to the side, narrowly avoiding a punch, which she knew would have hurt. Without any weapons, Faline resorted to martial sills, throwing kicks and punches that drove the cyborg back, but left numb patches on her limbs. Finally, a small portion of the thing's leg shattered. Seeing the opportunity almost before it happened, Faline swept forward, snatched a shard of metal before it hit the ground, and slit the cyborg's throat in one smooth motion. The cyborg fell, and Faline was instantly on the alert for others. But all was quiet in the long-abandoned warehouse. Nothing moved. It was as if the wind itself was afraid to trespass here._

_The thought that came was almost her own. She relaxed and perked at no apparent sign, cocked her head as if listening for something, then took off without any prior signals. Outside was no better than inside. The ground was made of rubble, metal scraps, and bone fragments. Half-broken buildings on the verge of toppling over were crumbling, their frames and supporting metal showing. The sky was hidden completely by a yellow-gray spread of cloud, and Faline almost stumbled when she saw. She was used to sky above her head. _

_Faline weaved her way through broken buildings, going in exactly the same direction she had started out in. She had been running for seven hours by the time she heard human voices up ahead. She decided to stop and rest for the night, and continue in the morning. After seven hours of running at the exact same speed, Faline stopped. She just… stopped. When she had finished her skid, she stood perfectly still. The voices were coming from the inside of a roughly intact two-story building twenty-five yards away. Faline listened to what they were saying. Despite the distance, she heard them quite easily. There were about five people in the discussion, and Faline could hear the rustlings of many others._

"_The enemy's been tracking us for days. They're gonna catch up by tomorrow."_

"_Should we try and run?"_

"_No, we should set a trap."_

"_You insane? We've got machine guns and they've got fucking __**tanks**__!"_

"_Well, what would you suggest we do? Run with our tails between our legs like a pack of scared dogs?"_

"_Calm down! Jake's right; we need to make a stand. I'm going to die sometime soon, and I for one am not going out a coward."_

"_Do what you want, I'm not risking my own skin for some cheapskate code of honor or some load of bullshit! I'm outta here!"_

"_Daneri, wait!"_

_Faline got into the cover of a corner five seconds before a lean woman stormed out of the building with two men in hot pursuit. A bulky man grabbed the woman Daneri's, arm, and she spun angrily and punched the man square across the jaw. He stumbled and grasped his jaw, glaring at her like lasers would shoot from his eyes, but did not retaliate. The other man stepped back, stood for a few seconds, then dragged the other man back inside. The woman glared after them, but turned and walked away. She turned the very corner that hid Faline and walked right into her. The woman seemed a bit stunned by the unexpected appearance of a young girl, but regained her composure almost immediately. Faline saw the woman move her hand towards a gun strapped to her thigh, but Faline reacted instantly and whisked the cyborg shard she hadn't realized she was still holding to the woman's throat. The woman froze and slowly raised her hands above her head. After ten extremely long seconds, Faline lowered the shard and stepped back shakily._

"_I… I'm sorry." Faline said, the shard dropping from her hand._

_The woman moved slowly, and experimentally reached for her pistol again. When Faline didn't do anything, the woman relaxed, but Faline could tell that she was still on her guard. Now that she had a good view, Faline could see that the woman was young, probably in her mid-twenties._

"_What're you doing out here alone, kid?" the woman asked._

_Faline honestly had no idea where she was or what was going on, so she quickly pieced together an alibi._

"_I'm looking for my companions. We got separated two days ago."_

_The woman looked apologetic._

"_Separated? How do you expect to find them?"_

"_I'm moving in circles," Faline lied through her teeth. "Isn't that how people usually find things?"_

"_I'm sorry, but if you got separated, your companions are probably dead. It's a miracle you survived, and with just a knife at that."_

_Faline immediately got defensive._

"_My companions are just a skilled at I am. They're alive," she snapped._

_The woman still looked apologetic, but backed off of the subject. She looked around, as if searching for a topic of conversation. Her eyes landed on the cyborg shard that Faline had dropped._

"_So… how long have you been with only that?"_

_Faline groped her mind for a reasonable lie._

"_Days. I can't really remember." _

_Faline was making a wonderful tapestry with her lies, but the woman was buying it easily. The woman looked very impressed._

"_Days? Without a gun?"_

"_Couldn't find one," Faline said, shrugging._

_The woman whistled._

"_Hey kid, you wanna travel with me? I got a gun, and might be able to get you one."_

"_Where are you going?" Faline asked._

_The woman shrugged._

"_Wherever the road takes me, I guess."_

_Faline weighed her options. This woman seemed alone and without a purpose, and it would be good to have a companion to help Faline to the designated Totem rendezvous point. But still, the woman might weigh her down if she didn't have any skill. But there was strength in numbers…_

"_Can I tag along with you, wherever you're going?" the woman asked, deciding the point there and then._

"_Yeah," Faline replied, "but the sun's nearly down; we need to find somewhere to sleep."_

"_You know anywhere?"_

_Faline was surprised by how quickly and willingly this woman was falling under Faline. Despite their obvious age difference, Faline could see that this woman, with a little nudge, would see Faline as her superior without practically any effort at all._

"_Yeah. There's this building I passed earlier that'll be good. Follow me."_

_When the woman followed without any protest, Faline knew that that was it. This woman would follow her around wherever she went, do what she told her to. Maybe this woman had never actually led something, maybe she just didn't like to, maybe it was something else, but she was now Faline's. once Faline caught up with the others the woman might have to be discarded, but until then, she would be extremely useful._

"_By the way, I'm Daneri," the woman said from behind._

"_I know. I heard. I'm Faline."_

_The woman nodded and followed Faline to the building.  
_


	2. Bored

Duenan picked at her salad, feeling the least hungry she ever had in her life. Finally, she just threw it away. The door opened, and she looked up.

"Tereus!" she said, a smile lighting her face.

"Not hungry?" Tereus asked, looking at Duenan's empty plate.

"Not until Briarios is out." Duenan replied.

"No fun here without the cyborg," observed Tereus.

Duenan nodded, but Tereus wasn't done.

"Yeah, about that… they might have to keep him a bit longer."

Duenan's smile vanished.

"What? Why?"

"The nanos turned out to be more advanced than they thought. They need to keep him for tests while they develop and antidote. You can go and see him, though. He's going to be awake most of the time, because they aren't really doing anything to him."

Duenan was out the door before he had even finished speaking. Tereus smiled after her, his DNA code making him half-love her. He may have been just a Bioroid, but he still envied the two's feelings for each other. It seemed as if everyone around him had a significant other. Heck, even Hitomi was in love! Tereus looked down at his hand for no reason. With a sigh, Tereus began to make his way towards the gym to see if there was anyone that was brave enough to fight him.

* * *

"Briarios!"

"Duenan!"

Duenan flew into Bri's arms. Aside from his adrenaline nanos, he was completely fine, and had been sitting on the bed like there was nothing wrong. His cold metal arms felt familiar against Duenan's back, and she let go after a few seconds and sat down where Bri had previously been.

"How's the new doctor been?" Due asked.

Bri shrugged.

"He's okay. He wasn't as good as the last one, but I'd choose this one any day."

Due nodded. After the fiasco that had occurred with Bri's last doctor, the cyborg was still very skittish about who helped his circuits. Aside from Yoshitsune, he had mercilessly questioned all of the doctors who had joined the case, but was still cautious. Due didn't blame him.

"Man, this sucks," Bri said, picking Duenan up and spinning her around.

"I know," Duenan agreed, slithering out of his grip with ease.

"But hey, you've got Tereus to keep you company, and at least he makes a good conversation. All I've got is a bunch of workaholics that use too many big words."

"Well, there's Yoshitsune…" Duenan said halfheartedly.

Bri shrugged and sat down. Due sat down as well, snuggling as close to him as she could. Bri smiled internally and put his arm around her. They were silent, content to just bask in each other's company. They both jumped at Duenan's phone. Duenan's face fell, and if Briarios had still had a face, his would have followed. Duenan reluctantly answered it.

"Duenan!"

"Tereus?"

Bri looked surprised.

"We need you over here. There are some new recruits that you need to see. Lance says that he'll take no one else."

Duenan sighed and looked regretfully at Briarios. He patted her back, then pushed her playfully off the table and towards the door.

"Go on. I'll be fine here, if bored."

Duenan smiled, leaned forward, and gave Briarios a small kiss before exiting his room.

* * *

"_You're not really looking in circles, are you?" Daneri asked._

"_No."_

"_You know exactly where they are, don't you."_

"_Yes."_

"_And you're going directly towards them, aren't you?"_

"_Yes."_

_Daneri had realized it as soon as they had set out. Faline had made no attempt to hide that their pat was not in a spiral, but in a direct line. They were now taking a short rest, using the ruins of some forgotten building to hide from the mid-day sun. To Faline's surprise, Daneri had kept up during the run, but they both needed a rest. Daneri watched Faline for a few minutes before beginning her storm of questions._

"_Who are they?"_

"_My friends."_

"_What are their names?"_

"_Corvin, Rune, Barend, Devri, Draken," the next word was so quiet Daneri almost missed it, "and Conan."_

"_Why'd you get separated?"_

"_We didn't," Faline said, getting annoyed._

"_Why aren't you together?"_

"_We just aren't."_

"_How do you know where to go?"_

"_I just know!" Faline snapped, making Daneri back off._

_Faline turned her back and hugged her knees angrily. She hated feeling helpless! She had no idea where she was, had no idea __**when**__ she was, and had lost her Stone! Faline shook her head to clear her thoughts. No. The Cat wouldn't approve. She had to keep going and find the others, then focus on her Stone. She looked through a crumbling window and stood._

"_Come on. It's time to move."_


	3. Landmine

To put it lightly, Duenan was not impressed. The new recruits were scraping the line, but managing to just keep in E S.W.A.T material. They were slow and hardly obeyed orders, not to mention stupid. Duenan's irritation was multiplied by the fact that she could have been spending this time with Briarios. Duenan was pulled back to the world when one of the new recruits approached to tell her that they were finished.

"Obstacle course, now!" Duenan barked.

While they were doing that, she looked at Deacus, another E S.W.A.T member.

"Get these lumps off the team, or at least get them a trainer!"

"I'll see to it." Deacus said, leaving.

She turned back to the new recruits, sighing and running them through the obstacle course again.

* * *

_The noise was loud. 'Gunfire', Daneri had called it. There was a 'firefight' going on in a large open space, and Faline knew that her path went right through it. She was close; she could practically feel the Others! Daneri was cowering behind a rock, covering her ears. Faline was pacing, glaring into the sideways rain. Daneri watched her, confused. Her face adopted the dawning of knowledge just before Faline ran directly into the gunfire._

"_ARE YOU INSANE?!" Daneri screamed, reaching out to grab her and pull her back._

_Faline swatted Daneri's hand away, focusing all of her being on dodging the small and fatal projectiles. Faline yelped as two bullets hit her left thigh, but kept running. Seeing a shallow trench ahead, Faline ran as fast as she could and dived in just as another bullet hit her shoulder. Flattening herself onto her back, Faline could see the bullets flying above her hiding spot._

_

* * *

  
_

Duenan ate her pasta with vigor, gulping it down without tasting it. Tereus was coming with her this time, and walked her out of HQ. His motorcycle was black, in contrast to her pink one, and had tribal designs on it similar to the ones on his jacket. Duenan caught the spare helmet he had thrown her, and put it on as she mounted her bike. She had accidentally crushed her helmet when she left it under the foot of an angry Landmate, and was currently looking for another pink one. Tereus's spare worked, for now.

Briarios hugged Duenan as soon as she walked in the door. Then he turned to Tereus and clapped him on the shoulder, his other arm still around the blond haired woman.

"How're the new recruits?" he asked.

"Terrible." Duenan said with distaste. "We'll be lucky if they don't shoot teammates if they go on missions."

"That bad, huh?"

"Hey, _I_ had to spar with them. Don't laugh; it's hard to fight someone who has no idea what they're doing!" complained Tereus.

"So find a way outta here!" Duenan said, "We can't survive with a bunch of wannabes!"

Bri laughed and shoved Duenan playfully. Duenan shoved back, and was then pushed by Tereus who had decided to join the game. Briarios ended up on the floor just a Yoshitsune walked in. He looked confused for a moment, but then got it and laughed.

"If you're going to roughhouse, wait until he's out. After all, it's only until tomorrow."

All three of them seemed to light up.

"Tomorrow?" Duenan asked.

"Yeah. We're going to be done with the antidote in a few hours, but it'll take a lot out of him and he's going to have to sleep here. And after," Yoshitsune pointed at Briarios accusingly, "take it easy! This thing will sap your energy, so you need to get a lot of sleep and lay off the most dangerous missions. In fact, I'm going to contact E S.W.A.T and recommend stake-out missions."

"Stake-out missions?" Briarios said, disbelieving.

"Are you serious?" gasped Duenan, just as aghast as her partner.

"For a week, at least."

Briarios sighed. It was only a week, but stake-out missions were the most boring, and Briarios, by nature, was not a sneaky guy.

"And also, visiting hours are almost over, so you'll need to go soon," Yoshitsune continued.

Duenan sighed.

* * *

_There was an explosion, and the gunfire stopped. Faline could hear both sides retreating. Without considering her own danger, Faline immediately stood. She was immediately was hit by pain and nausea. She spit out a glob of blood, and heard Daneri._

"_Come back! You're in the dead center of a land mine! Come back in the exact same path you went it!"_

_Land mine? Faline knew what those were. She was in a bad position. Faline saw her own tracks, and started to stagger back to Daneri._

"_Faline!"_

_Faline spun around, and gasped. Barend and Devri were running from the maze of broken buildings. Behind them, Rune and Corvin were running as well. With a taste of the air, Faline located Draken freerunning over the top of the buildings, and Faline's eyes started to sparkle as she saw Conan. Completely forgetting she was in a minefield, she darted towards the other side. She was getting closer, closer. Twenty yards, fifteen yards, the distance was closing rapidly Conan was the closes. Faline reached out her hand to grasp his outstretched one. Their fingers brushed. A last gunshot sounded. There was a rushing sound as Faline's vision blacked out, and then… silence._


End file.
